A group of 17 Republican senators signed onto a letter to Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, asking that he not exclude fossil fuel companies from the $454 billion corporate loan program created under the CARES Act. The bond-purchasing part of that program is being administered by the global investment management corporation BlackRock, which earlier this year announced it would remove fossil fuel investments from its discretionary active investment portfolios. Environmental groups have urged Black Rock to weigh climate risk when administering the CARES Act program as well. Senators backing the coal bailout say that “BlackRock must act without regard to this or other investment policies BlackRock has adopted for its own funds.” Status: Letter sent April 7, 2020.
